Sam Register, Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs for Warner Bros. Animation gave a keynote speech at MIPjunior, . Thundercats conversation starts at the 16:20 mark and lasts until the 21:20 mark. He specifically mentions past attempts to bring the property to both the big and small screen, as well how well the current toys are selling. But he also talks about what they kept and what they changed on the show and why they went with an anime style. Check it out below:
Joe Moore says
Warner Bros Keynote Mentions Thundercats
Lion-O* says
This guy really belittles the original Thundercats a lot in his speech. Its great to say that they improved things, but why the need to say that the original was poor ?
He mentioned the show was one that people cared about....
Also gotta love how he emphasizes that the toys are selling well
The Eye of Thundera says
Sad to say but this guy sounds exactly like what I expected as a corporate head in charge of making these decisions. Completely clueless to the fan-base and thinks he knows better than those that have done it before him. I really do enjoy the new cartoon but I am not at all a fan of the character designs.
Saint Phe says
Everything he said made sense and I appreciate his honesty. Whether or not he respects the original (and I think he does), their approach to the new show has yielded spectacular results. A few snarky comments in a keynote speech aren't going to ruffle my feathers.
Joe Moore says
I think, what he was trying to do, was really build up the merits of new show. Remember, this is mainly for investors and such, and you want to build up the quality of your brand in their eyes. Hit on what your new version is improving on compared to the older one.
Bravestarr says
Joe Moore says
>EXO< says
I think as true fans we don't realize how niche the audience is for the classic Thundercats and we end up defending it more than we have to. But in general, it's not really the most popular 80's cartoon property. The night before I watched this keynote, I just happened to be talking to my friend and he said that he can stand watching reruns of He-Man more than he can Thundercats. Now I love the MOTU toys as a kid but I thought that the cartoons were way too tame for a sword and sorcery fantasy and there was never enough exposition of the toys. I sat thru He-Man everyday wishing they would show more Man E Faces or Mekaneck. My defense for the Thundercats was that they really showed a lot of the toys and even though side characters were sometimes a one episode deal, those episodes featured those characters in the best way possible. Like the Grune vs. Jaga episode. Plus Lion-O actually fought with his sword, he didn't just shoot blasters out of it. But it really took some convincing to make him realize how fun the Thundercats was. Though I do agree that the current mythology is superior to the old one. But all those 80s cartoons seemed directionless to me (except for Gargoyles.)
Back to the keynote, aside from the Thundercats, which I already think they are doing wonders with, I think he (and his cohorts) do respect the original cartoons. I'm glad they used the original Hal Jordan designs for Green Lantern and I think that cinema shorts are a real smart idea in order to bring that old, no holes barred type humor of the old WB cartoons. The new Batman looks weird though... but I guess you can't have everything...